COL49: The beginning is the beginning is the end

[Phil Wise]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Wise" <philwise at paradise.net.nz>
To: "jbor" <jbor at bigpond.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2001 8:26 PM
Subject: Re: COL49: The beginning is the beginning is the end


>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jbor" <jbor at bigpond.com>
> To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 11:40 PM
> Subject: Re: COL49: The beginning is the beginning is the end
>
>
> > on 7/31/01 4:32 PM, calbert at hslboxmaster.com at calbert at hslboxmaster.com
> > wrote:
> >
> > >> I think it wise to follow Occam's advice and, real evidence to the
> > >> contrary, assume that Pynchon is simply calling a collection of
> > >> not-so-great stories not so great.
> > >
> > > I would credit that position if there was any more evidence of
> > > Pynchon's "playing nice" with his readers and critics. It may be out
> > > there, I'm simply not aware of it..... obliged by editors to supply a
> > > foreword to SL, I don't think he would strip just because he was
> > > asked......rather, I suspect he would take the opportunity to
> > > continue "the game".......again, if viewed through the prism of
> > > Driblette, this appears a credible theory.....and I have a very
> difficult
> > > time determining when Pynchon is being "sincere", and am prone
> > > to believe that he choses not to share that side......that crack
> > > about having forgotten everything that he had learned to date
> > > seems hyperbolical.....
> >
> > I don't think it's hyperbole at all, and it's not quite what he writes
> > either. The words are carefully chosen: _Lot 49_ is the novel "in which
I
> > seem to have forgotten most of what I thought I'd learned up till then."
> > He's not only saying that _Lot 49_ is inferior to 'The Secret
> Integration';
> > he's also commenting on his youthful over-confidence, saying that it was
> > only what he "thought" he'd "learned". The collection is entitled (by
> > Pynchon himself, I suspect) "Slow Learner", and it's this notion which
is
> > taken up here, and which serves as an extended metaphor throughout the
> > introduction.
>
> Interestingly, now that you've put it that way, it could mean that TP's
> "forgotten what he thought he's learned", and written in a new, better way
> than the possibly mediocre stories within.  In other words, imperfect as
it
> is, Lot 49 may be superior, in his mind, to "The Secret Integration".
Like
> that  whole thing where you've been told to forget everything you learned
at
> school because it woun't be any use to you here.  Maybe?  Perhaps?
>
>  Because of this I believe that of all the pieces in the
> > collection this autobiographical reminiscence is perhaps the most
> > significant, and I certainly agree with Pynchon and MalignD about the
> > unevenness, even mediocrity, of some parts of the stories. The fact that
> it
> > is the one and only quasi-autobiographical text which Pynchon has
> published
> > seems to me evidence enough to credit the notion that he is being
> > straightforward: he would have been under no obligation at all to write
a
> > foreword and so I think it is safe to assume that he had wanted to write
> it,
> > and that part of the reason that he wanted to write it at all is because
> of
> > the unevenness and immaturity of some of the stories themselves, which
is
> > just what he says. I get the impression in the intro that it's as if he
> has
> > *had to* dust these stories off and publish them.
>
> I tend to agree with this assessment, largely because that's my feeling as
> well.  Nothing solid I can call on to back it up, but it never occured to
me
> to read the intro as anything other than P talking to me in an amiable,
> slightly self-depreciating way.  I agree with Malign that the stories are
> kinda low-key, mediocre if you like.  He's feeling his way at this point.
> Lot 49 is flawed, but richer and hits the ironic/comic/serious tone of the
> later novels on the head.
>
> [snip]
>
> >
> > best
> >
> >
>
> Phil
> >
>